A common question I receive is
What are some duties of the church hospitality team or committee?
I’ve put together a list of potential hospitality duties for your committee.
Your team might want to consider these as focus areas as you work on your church hospitality program.
Larger churches will break these into teams,.
Smaller churches will find some of these areas are not applicable.
Your team members are the face of the Body of Christ to those God sends to your church.
Your task is to help your guests feel and experience the love of God by truly welcoming them into God’s house through friendly and authentically gracious service.
Not all churches will cover all areas of their church hospitality program with their team.
This list of functions of a church hospitality team might give you a framework to think on.
General Duties of Church Hospitality Team
- Oversee the working of all hospitality programs and visitor care ministries.
- Coordinate the activities that involve hospitality and care ministries.
- Be alert to the needs of the church membership and ways to serve those needs.
- Develop a mission and vision statement for your team, if that will help guide your ministry.
Area: The Welcome Experience for Church Visitors
- Recruit and train church greeters.
- Recruit and train church ushers.
- Develop a parking lot team if needed.
- Host a reception after the morning services.
- Staff and train volunteers for the visitor welcome center.
- Review the communication materials for first-time visitors.
- How children are received for children’s church.
- Regularly review the facility for signage and navigation.
- Design and oversee the collection of church visitor contact information.
Reignite Your First Impressions Ministry
We all want our church visitors to come back. But to get that to happen you need to improve your first impression ministries.
But where do you start?
Get these 7 Secrets to Effective Church Hospitality to give you starting points and ideas that you can implement this weekend.
Area: Help returning church visitors connect
- Take care of repeat visitors
- Implement a system for contact after the first visit
- Audit your visitor-to-regular attender process to find out ways to make it better.
- Develop processes for getting and using the contact information.
- Track visitors who make multiple visits
- Care for new members
- Work with pastoral leadership to develop a follow-up gathering (e.g., meet the pastor).
- Find ways to help your visitors to make new friends.
Area: Welcome Functions at Special Church Events
- All areas of ministry requiring the use of the church kitchen (Setup, serve, clean up).
- Catering and Reception for installation of new pastors or great farewell of departing pastors.
- Prepare refreshments for church socials.
- Keep track of all supplies necessary for such events.
- Develop and maintain a written log of food quantities per number of people to develop a reasonable awareness of how much food is needed for functions.
- Train volunteers in the proper use of kitchen machinery (think food sanitation, cleanliness, health department issues, etc).
- Provide hospitality arrangements for visiting pastors, missionaries, and specially invited guests.
Area: Member Care
Some hospitality committees may include other areas of member care:
- Arrange for meals for church families when needed (birth of baby, baby shower, death of loved one, health crisis).
- Light house cleaning for shut-in members or elderly members who need assistance.
- Transportation assistance for members who can’t drive themselves to appointments.
- Gifts for Pastor / Staff appreciation days or Christmas.
I’ve seen several more church hospitality duty checklists that go far beyond this kind of general overview.
They are specific to each individual church and the level of detail that each church wants.
They get into item detail such as
- Who orders the paper products and other supplies.
- How to work with custodial staff in partnership with the Hospitality Team.
- Who reports to who to keep people informed.
- Processes for reimbursement and check writing duties.
- Who’s in charge of cleaning up, locking up, and other sorts of checklists.
- How to schedule the use of certain rooms and coordinate volunteers for those rooms.
What areas might you add?
Let me ask you this.
In the comment field below, answer this question:
What additional areas or duties might you suggest for the hospitality team?
I’ve gathered a bunch of articles for the hospitality committee here if you want further reading.
Does Your Hospitality Team need a little help?
Does your hospitality program seem stuck on ideas?
Are you the newly appointed volunteer of the committee or to address your church’s hospitality ministry?
Do you know where you want to start improving your church hospitality, or do you feel there just too much information out there to know how to begin?
I offer church hospitality coaching for your hospitality director. It follows a six week structure to help you get your committee and hospitality program going forward.
Read more about the Get Started Program for Church Hospitality Leaders here.
Training Young Life Central American Leaders in Prayer Ministry
Is there a hospitality for children? If so I need help!
I have just been appointed to head the hospitality unit in a relatively new Pentecostal assembly. Your article has made me realize that it is a multifaceted department encompassing much of welfarism. I desire to be fully involved and would need your assistance in getting started and moving to perfection.
Well, you found a great starting place with this article on the duties of a Hospitality Committee. There are all sorts of links in this article for further ideas, and start here guide on improving your hospitality,
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/improve-your-greeter-ministry/
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/fix-your-church-hospitality/
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/resource-links-for-church-hospitality-committees/
I was assigned a hospitality leadership role in an outreach fellowship and in church. I have no idea what it entails. Kindly assist
I’m so glad to get in touch.Hope we get along better.Kindly help our church with training materials in the areas of church growth and welfare.I just got appointed as the chairman of the welfare & hospitality committee.
I do patiently anticipate your prompt reply.
Ursula from Liberia
I have just been made the coordinator of the welfare department in my local small church.
I’m new to this department, though I have the passion for it. Kindly assist me with the scope and manual to help me function. I will appreciate reading materials that will be of great help.
Thank you.
John: Here is one list that I compiled a few years ago:
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/2010/books-on-church-hospitality/
Hospitality unit is a wonderful one that relates one with old and new convert’s to embrace God in the fullest.
I needed to have interesting books that will be a guide in my work as the hospitality leader in my local church.
Thank you for dropping by. As you plan your committee work, what else would you add to this list?
Amazingly informative, we look forward to practicing the tasks.
its quite an exercise
I found this column helpful
I was apointed as a co-leader over our usher/gretter board at church but wr have been stagonet mot a lot of movment. Need help want to see this blossomand move forward and be able to recruit new people who love to serve and love god. Thank u
I just got assign as the president of my church hospitality committee, but I have no idea on all the duties that is ask of me, I need some help to be great at my job for it is a honor to work for the lord and I want to be very great at it
I have a duty to develop a welfare policy for my assembly, kindly assist.
I was recently assigned the hospitality committee by the church and have No! idea how to get started. material, thoughts and ideas will greatly be appreciated also how to start a Mission statement or by-laws…Thank you and God Bless you…
Need information on duties
Sandra:
Welcome to getting started in this new and awesome ministry.
You might like this article, which happens to be a shameless plug for my ebook.
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/2013/starting-a-new-role-as-leader-of-your-church-welcome-committee/
But other resources:
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/fix-your-church-hospitality/ –< has a mini ecourse and 10 ten articles https://www.evangelismcoach.org/2012/church-hospitality-committee-what-does-it-do/ – this may help you the most
this article talks about my coaching service
https://www.evangelismcoach.org/2010/is-your-churchs-hospitality-ministry-stuck/
i was assign as the new hospitality president i have no clue just going on what i am ask to do but i want to know the ins and out the position also i was given the bearevement committee
please help me.
Welcome and thanks for stopping by. I’ve sent you an separate email to answer your question.
Chris
I need help through Manuels and essential information that will help me run the affairs of my Church welfare effectively and efficiently. I was appointed the Welfare Chairman yesterday.
Thank you.
I need help training my team in being great hospitality workers in my church if I could get tips and materials to work with.we cater for pastors conference,banquets and other small event thanks for your support this will help me and my team.
I need help in training materials. I got your information from the internet. I am a Liberia Pastors trainer seeking partnership to get people involve in visiting Liberia to do training for our rural pastors
Information I found to be very useful.